- Steep rise in EBIT from € 3.0 m in 2009 to € 183.3 m

- Sales targets comfortably exceeded, high margins achieved

- Significant contribution to earnings from development projects in Germany

- Earnings expected to increase in 2011

Publicly owned CA Immobilien Anlagen AG has reported a highly positive annual result for the 2010 business year. As the investment market for real estate began to pick up, the company achieved earnings before interest and taxes of € 183.3 m (in absolute terms the highest EBIT in the company's history) as well as a highly encouraging total net result of € 45.4 m.

Income from the sale of properties: target comfortably exceeded

Development projects and undeveloped sites scheduled for development that were sold at attractive prices accounted for around 70 % of sales. According to Dr. Bruno Ettenauer, Chief Executive Officer of CA Immo, “We have achieved a total sales volume of € 322.4 m, well above our original target of € 200-250 m, whilst freeing up significant amounts of capital not tied up in income-generating properties. At the same time, the sales profits we have made confirm the profit potential of these development sites and endorse the strategic course of the past few years.” As a result of the sales, the proportion of development sites in the overall portfolio fell from 30 % to 23 %. The contribution to earnings from real estate sales was € 34.3 m (or € 49.0 m where revaluation gains on sold properties are included). Conversely, a total of € 326.7 m was re-invested, largely in development projects; total property assets are thus virtually unchanged at approximately € 3.6 bn.

These positive developments were counteracted by a decline in rental income of around – 7.1 % on the previous year; the main reason for the decrease was the loss of revenue from investment properties sold in 2009. The highly positive valuation result of € 46.7 m provided particularly convincing evidence of stabilisation on real estate markets and an intensification of investment activity. The specific aforementioned sales as well as upward valuations linked to progress on projects and partial completions accounted for around two thirds of the valuation result. Consequently, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose dramatically from € 3.0 m to € 183.3 m, the highest level in the history of the company.

On account of lower charges associated with the valuation of interest-rate hedges, the financial result improved significantly (from € -137.5 m to € -107.6 m). Earnings before taxes (EBT) stood at € 75.8 m in 2010 (compared to € -134.5 m in 2009), whilst consolidated net income after minorities was
€ 45.4 m (against € -76.9 m in 2009).

As at the reporting date, the equity ratio of CA Immo stood at 38 %. The Group's net gearing was up 20 % at € 1,766.6 m as at 31 December 2010, with property assets amounting to approximately € 3.6 bn. After the prepayment of around € 136 m for the acquisition of Europolis AG, cash and cash equivalents (including short-term securities) remained at the high level of € 358.6 m as at 31 December 2010 (€ 504.1 m on 31.12.2009). Net asset value (NAV) per share was € 18.69 as at 31 December 2010, up 4.6 % on the value for the previous year (€ 17.87).

Upward trend for the CA Immo share

Over the past few months, the development of the CA Immo share price has been highly encouraging; it was established in the double digit range by the start of 2011. Although the discount to NAV has been sharply reduced, the current price is still 35 % below the NAV, which points to significant potential for further improvement of the CA Immo share.

Operating targets achieved in 2010

Although the lettings market was generally challenging in 2010, CA Immo was able to conclude lease contracts relating to 170,000 sqm in total. Particularly worthy of note was the agreement reached in December 2010 to lease 32,000 sqm of floor space at the Lände 3 site on Erdberger Lände to Österreichische Post AG. Development projects are proceeding according to plan, both in terms of technical realisation and the obtaining of planning permission.

According to Ettenauer, “This very encouraging annual result proves that we were right to stick to our strategy over recent years. Despite some strong headwinds, we invested against the market trend and pushed ahead with our development projects. That approach is now starting to bear fruit – it has brought us within touching distance of our primary goal, which is to be in a position to pay a dividend for 2011. This will mean we have produced the best possible material return for our shareholders.”

Outlook for 2011

We expect earnings to carry on rising significantly in 2011, provided the economic environment continues to improve. In particular, we believe the likely contribution to earnings from the Europolis Group (which will be fully consolidated during the first quarter of 2011) makes a return on equity of at least 5 % a feasible target for this year. Provided our targets are reached, the Management Board has every intention of proposing to the Ordinary General Meeting for 2011 the payment of a dividend of at least 2 % of NAV for the first time.

Please find the 2009 financial report for CA Immobilien Anlagen AG under the heading Investor relations/Financial reports.

Please address any questions to:

CA Immobilien Anlagen AG
Florian Nowotny (Investor Relations)
Claudia Hainz (Investor Relations)
Tel.: +43 (0)1532 5907
Fax: +43 (0)1532 5907 595
E-mail: ir@caimmoag.com
www.caimmoag.com

Links:
Presentation (.pdf)

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Thursday, 10. March 2011 12:16